October 2008October 2008
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VA SUSPENDS
PROSTATE CANCER TREATMENT PROGRAMS AT FOUR HOSPITALS |
By Katherine McIntire Peters After a months-long inquiry into why dozens of prostate cancer treatment patients at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia received lower-than-prescribed radiation doses, VA has suspended similar treatment programs at three other hospitals. The three additional VA hospitals to suspend brachytherapy programs, in which radioactive seeds are implanted into the prostate, are in Cincinnati; Jackson, Miss.; and Washington. Those hospitals were found to have similar problems as those in Philadelphia, where the treatment program was suspended this summer. News of the suspensions came from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has launched a special inspection of VA's radiation treatment program. VA spokeswoman Laurie Tranter said she could not say when the programs were suspended, how patients were notified, or why the problems might have occurred. Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41201&dcn=e_gvet |
DAILY BRIEFING